Bay Area Homes Sales Down, Prices Up
It sometimes takes a while to compose the stats, but the number of Bay Area homes sold in January fell more than usual from December and dropped below the year-ago level for the first time in 17 months. The median sale price rose above last year for the fourth straight month but dipped 8 percent from December as demand shifted more toward foreclosures and less-expensive inland homes.
A total of 4,853 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the nine-county Bay Area last month. That was down 38.0 percent from 7,828 sales in December and down 3.9 percent from 5,050 sales in January 2009, according to MDA DataQuick of San Diego.
A decline in sales between December and January is normal for the season. On average, sales have dropped 28 percent between those two months since 1988, when DataQuick’s statistics begin.
Last month was the first since August 2008 in which sales fell on a year-over-year basis. January’s 4,853 sales total was 22.5 percent short of the average January tally – 6,261 – since 1988. Sales last month were also the second-lowest for a January since 1995, behind 3,586 sales in January 2007. The peak sales total for a January was in 2005, when 8,298 homes sold.
“The January figures show the market lost some of the momentum it had built up in the second half of ’09, when home buyers rushed to ensure they could take advantage of a tax credit, ultra-low mortgage rates and lower prices,” said John Walsh, MDA DataQuick president.
“It’s difficult to gauge how much of the slowdown stems from a thinner inventory of homes for sale in some areas as opposed to lower demand,” he said. “Whether last month’s relatively weak performance portends any substantial, lasting changes in the market is unclear. One month doesn’t make a trend and, in the past, January hasn’t proven to be very predictive.”
The January sales figures are based largely on deals that were struck during the holidays (late November through early January) and that closed escrow in January. In the Bay Area and across California, the sales data indicate that investors and first-time buyers remained the most committed home shoppers, and that helped skew the sales toward foreclosures and other lower-cost properties.
Sales out of our offices are showing a much different picture for the months of February and so far in March. Real estate that is priced right in Menlo Park, Atherton, Palo Alto and other areas are getting multiple offers and many are selling at above listing price. Once the sales figures catch up, you will see the luxury real estate market showing a change from a buyers market to somewhere in the middle between buyers and sellers market. If you have your home for sale and it is priced right, the sellers will get offers. If you are overpricing, it’s a buyers market on your home as the offers will trickle in at lowball rates. SF Bay Area real estate is a good buy right now.
